A Little Absurd

Marriage has been, for most of human history, defined as the union between one man and one woman. That definition worked over centuries and in various cultures. Before we evolved here in America, we actually used to believe it too. Republicans and Democrats alike supported men marrying women and women marrying men. Each word in the definition had its place. Now with the apparent recent enlightenment, our culture is challenging that definition. The case for changing the definition of marriage says that the former definition is irrelevant…having been based on outdated belief systems. And so, soon marriage will be the union of two people. Allow me to say that I take no position ‘against’ any group of people. And except for this sentence, this article will never mention sexual persuasion or even sex. I do believe that words mean things and have actual definitions. For that, I guess, you can put me in the box we now label “Ideological”, curiously placed right next to the box labeled “Dangerous”. If marriage will now be the union of two people, let me suggest that that new definition discriminates against a whole part of society. As a single person, I believe I am discriminated against by the new definition of marriage. Why should marriage be limited to ‘two people’. If I choose to not be unified with a second person, am I any less human? Can I not be accepted in society like anyone else simply because I live alone? Am I relegated to living my entire life in a state of eternal youth and childhood? Marriage is the accepted cultural institution of adulthood, and as a single person I am wholly excluded from it because of the limiting Victorian definition. Why should I be excluded from all of the priviledges of marriage. Why should I be viewed as a second-class citizen and left to hide in the shadows? Am I not an adult? Do I not have the same rights as those who choose to abide with one other adult? Why should two people who live in a home be viewed by the law any differently than one person who lives in the home next door. It is discrimination. It is shameful. Single marriage is an idea whose time has come. If you disagree, you are a bigot. You are holding on to an ancient number…2. And why? What right do you have to impose your number on me or the millions of people like me? I demand the freedom to marry. It is time for us to move on away from the idea that everyone must be married TO someone. That is exclusionary. It is time for us to accept that I can be married without being married TO someone. I am a caring, law-abiding citizen with hours upon hours of community service. I am a better influence on my neighborhood than most ‘paired’ people that I know. I am not some kind of immoral creature just because I prefer the number 1 to the number 2. Pairs deserve no ‘special’ place in society. My number choice is equal in value to that of any other. If you claim that the number 2 is appropriate for marriage and the number 1 is not, you are exclusionary. Every form prepared by backward thinking people that requires me to fill in the box ‘married’ or ‘single’ is an attack on my character and who I am as a person. Defining marriage as the union between two people is a limiting and prejudiced definition. It excludes all of us who are born with the completely natural desire to live alone. Living by myself should not exclude me from the institution of marriage. It is our duty to rethink the current partially evolved 2013 definition of marriage and make it fully appropriate to today’s level of progress. Single people have been shunned and looked down upon for too long. Marriage certificates must be revised so as not to force people to adopt the number 2 as some kind of holy number. Who came up with that number, after all? Why must marriage include two people? It’s archaic. It is time for us to move beyond a random number from some backward book of legends. Many reading this will giggle to think of marriage for the single person. It is counter intuitive, perhaps. Marriage implies union, and union implies different parties coming together. Well. It used to. Marriages here on Earth are merely a picture of The Marriage described in the Bible…Jesus Christ as groom and His Church as the bride. That wedding story is a beautiful account of an unlikely courtship and a steadfast love marked by sacrifice, ceremony and commitment. It is the story of the wealthiest Prince choosing the lowliest unfaithful partner. He lifts her up to His glory where she shines with royalty. It is the inspiration for novels, movies, and fairy-tales. Every wedding photo ever taken was a picture of THE REAL wedding. Are YOU experiencing THIS marriage?